Romeo and Juliet
by fluffykitty12
Summary: After a mission goes wrong and Zatanna is presumed dead, Robin makes a drastic decision. With both teens fighting for their lives, others are left in the crossfire of emotional fallout- but will they get another chance together, alive? Major Rob/Zatanna Trigger-warning. Contains suicide attempt and some gore. Rated M (to be safe) for suicide attempt, contains no sexual acts.
1. Don't go to Sleep

**To start out- I've never really shipped Robin and Zatanna before. Probably because i was freaking distracted by how incredibly adorable and amazing Robin is alone to even consider a love interest. Personally, I could think of others to put Dick with as well, but I really tried in this fic. All those who ship Robin/Zatanna, please review and tell me your thoughts on this.**

She was dead. The knowledge echoed through his mind like the crazed laughter, and the nightmares, and the image forever engraved into his skull of his mother's last words as she desperately reached for him before falling...

He could taste the metallic tang of his own blood, feel his mind screaming at him to stop biting his lip, but he didn't even notice, didn't care to respond and obey his body's command- he was numb.

It'd all been a simple reconnaissance mission. Get in, get intel, get out. It'd gone wrong, however, incredibly horribly wrong...

They'd stumbled upon a room full of alien tech, and he'd been taking photos with his wrist computer, Zatanna lagging behind a few feet.

Artemis and Wally had been exchanging their usual banter, and Conner and Megan were stealing glances at one another as well...

And Wally had tripped. Just for a split second, he'd lost his footing (as teenagers were prone to do) and fallen onto the control panel of some piece of machinery. He'd heard the speedster fumble and whirled, in time to see the beam of green light strike Zatanna and her look of total shock and terror, before she was gone.

Everyone just stared for a moment, shocked. Wally, who'd ended up on the floor, put his head in his hands, disbelief and a look of horror he'd never forget engraved in his best friend's features.

Megaan had burst into tears, then, and Conner had stared, shocked, while Artemis had swallowed, looking shaky and pale...

Artemis rushed towards him, though, and he realized he'd fallen to his knees. He could feel the tears streaming down his cheeks as he stared, astonished, at where his angel, his _goddess_, had stood only seconds before.

Artemis was no doubt going to try and comfort him, but she didn't get the chance. As soon as she was in striking distance, he'd lunged, taking her down and hitting a pressure point, knocking her out.

He'd dragged her body a few feet to the side, then, and resumed his frantic pacing of the area where Zatanna had stood.

No one even objected to his actions, proof of how startled they were.

He hadn't realized it at the time, but he'd slipped into Romani, screaming fiercely and calling, pleading, for Zatanna...

At some point, someone got their bearings enough to call in the league. Batman had entered, along with Black Canary and Superman, to find them in their various states of disarray, with Zatanna nowhere in sight.

At the sight of them approaching the place where Zatanna had been standing, he'd grown frantic. He could still hear his own voice in his head, the hateful expressions he'd screamed in Romani telling everyone- including Batman- to stay away, that he had to protect Zatanna... Even though some dark corner of his mind knew she was gone, he was refusing to believe it, refusing to acknowledge the fact she was gone, like his mom and dad, like everyone else he'd ever loved...

Batman had simply stuck the syringe into his arm, pressing down the plunger, and the last thing he remembered was falling.

And he'd woken up here. In his room at Mount Justice, alone. He had no desire to go outside if his room, afraid of what he'd find- remains? People making arrangements for a memorial service?

She was gone, his Zatanna, his everything, his world, was gone...

Death had stolen yet another of the people he'd loved.

He let out a feral growl, frustrated, before curling into the fetal position to sob. First his parents, then Zee- it was too much. It was too much to bear.

The whole reason he'd become Robin was to make sure another kid didn't have to lose their parents. He'd failed that objective when Zatanna had lost her Dad to the Helmet of Fate. And she'd had the kindness to forgive him for it, to speak with him and laugh with him and love him, even after his failure. And now- now he'd failed her again, and she'd paid the price.

He should've _done_ something, been faster, stronger, pushed her out of the way... It was so much easier to be the one dead than the one left behind.

And that was when reality hit him. She wasn't gone- she'd crossed the line between life and death, but so could he... He just had to end it.

He frantically searched his room for his utility belt, finding it and seizing a razor-sharp birdarang. In his shocked, frenzied mind, he wasn't thinking about how the team would feel to lose two of its members in one day, how Batman would feel to lose his partner, how Bruce would feel to lose his son...

All his exhausted, frenzied mind was thinking about was how Zatanna had gone away, and how he had to get to her...

He feverishly clawed at his gauntlets, pulling them off to reveal pale wrists. He swallowed, placing the cold metal of the birdarang down to touch his flesh, putting pressure on it- not enough to cut, but enough to make him know it was there.

He took a breath. It would hurt- it would hurt so badly. But he'd felt pain before, he knew torture- and he knew that if he cut deep enough, it'd be over soon. He'd fizzle out like a light, the last few sparks fading, the pain dulling, until there was nothing but sweet relief and Zatanna...

He swallowed. He could bear a few minutes of bleeding and agony, if it meant he could be with her again. He let out a sad smile. "See you soon, Zee." he whispered, before he pressed the birdarang down and cut, hearing the sickening sound of flesh parting and smelling the blood before hitting the ground.

It hurt- hell, did it hurt. He ended up on the floor, he'd dropped the birdarang somewhere. He fumbled to find it again, and, with shaking hands, drew it across his other wrist.

He clutched his burning wrist, hissing in pain, watching as the blood slowly ran red over the pale skin in sticky little rivers, dripping from one wrist and seeping through the fingers of his other hand, which was pressed over the wound...

He knew he'd bleed out soon enough. The steady dripping of crimson trailing all down his arm was proof enough of that. And he smiled. "I love you, Zee. I'm coming. I promise..."

His last lucid thought was of her face.


	2. I'll meet you in my dreams

Batman strode through the hallway of the mountain, stride purposeful, face as stoic as ever. Only the few league members could see the worry that lurked beneath his impassive features, the concern at how his son had reacted to Zatanna's death.

The team was traumatized. This was even worse than the training excersise gone wrong, which had scarred everyone, but especially Dick, pretty badly. He could see behind everyone's numb expressions, see through the shock and the tears. They knew this was actually real. Zatanna was really gone.

Robin had been a mess when they'd showed up. He'd knocked Artemis unconcious and had been pacing the floor where Zatanna had stood like a rabid dog, screaming in his native tongue, swearing, ready to attack them all in his state of blatant hysteria...

And he had no doubt he'd have done the same, if he'd been put through the same emotional trauma Dick had been.

The sedation had probably worn off the boy by now, he was likely awake by now. He wordlessly pressed the button to the room, and Robin's doors slid open.

He stepped inside. Instantly, he was on alert. Something was wrong. Dick wasn't on his bed where he'd left him, he could hear a muffled voice, smell the unmistakable scent of blood...

"Dick! Where are you!?" Parental concern outweighed any concerns of secret identity now, as he felt his heart drop. His parental instincts had kicked in, deep in his gut, he knew something was wrong.

He located the source of the muffled voice, then, ran to it. Dick had fallen between the bed and the wall, in the small gap. He was mumbling incoherently, and he wordlessly yanked the boy, still clad as Robin, from the cramped space, pulling him into his lap...

Blood. It was the first thing he registered, and there was such a large amount he nearly panicked. It was only instinct and procedure that kept him from losing it right then and there.

He needed to find out where it was coming from, where his son had been wounded. Why hadn't he told him?

The question was answered a moment later when, to his horror, he saw the largest concentration of the crimson loquid was on the boy's wrists. His eyes widened beneath his mask. Dick had done this to himself...

The boy was white as a sheet, and the ebony's head lolled against his chest, pale, nearly bloodless lips curled into a smile. "Zee... Zee..." he mumbled, whisper-chanting her name like a mantra.

"Dick..." his voice was full of heartbreak as he took in the boy's state. The remorse he felt lasted for only a second, however, as his training kicked in once again. He was losing blood. Fast.

He pulled the zip-ties from his utility belt, the ones normally used to restrain criminals. His hands never fumbled as he located the cuts, two jagged wounds, one on each wrist. He pulled the ties tight above the cuts, restricts the bloodflow to his hands and suceeding in slowing the rivers of crimson.

Judging by his son's incoherent mumbling and the amount of blood he'd lost, however- the boy was going into shock. He tore off his cape, wrapping the boy in it and holding him, pressing the small body against his chest, feeling the small heartbeat thrumming, too quickly to be normal.

He sprinted towards the medbay, son in his arms.

"Stay with me, son."

* * *

><p>The team had been situated in the livingroom, silent. They'd been sprawled aimlessly on the furniture, simply pondering the silence and what'd happened. They'd lost Zatanna. She was dead.<p>

The melancholy silence continued, stretched into eternity, broken only by the steady dripping of the leaky faucet in the kitchen. Wally stared at his shoes, Artemis at her hands. Megaan had buried her face in a pillow, and her sobs had ceased about an hour ago.

Conner had absently placed a comforting hand on her back as he stared blankly ahead of him, uncertain if this was real or another cruel training excersise. He hoped it was the latter.

Kaldur was blaming himself from where he sat slumped forward, looking defeated, head in his hands.

The silence was broken by the sound of running feet. They all slowly raised there heads, confused. They'd made it clear to their mentors they simply wanted to be left alone.

It was at that moment Batman tore through the room, something clutched in his arms, bundled up and drowning in fabric.

And he was gone. In total, he'd crossed the room in three seconds. They all locked eyes, looking confused for one second, two...

Realization hit Wally like a ton of bricks. He'd never seen Batman move like that, never seen the desperation that'd been carved into the man's features before, unless something had happened to... "ROBIN!" he was on his feet, then, grief forgotten and replaced with frantic worry.

Realization dawned on everyone else's faces, as well- but none of them were as fast as the ginger speedster.

He tore through the moutain at lightening speed, ending up at the med bay a moment later, staring at the boy, nearly pale as the sheets he was laid on, in the bay.

"I need help! He's bleeding out!"

Leaguers who'd congregated in a meeting room, discussing what'd happened to Zatanna, bustling about, then, orders were yelled. Units of blood were ordered, gasps of shock heard, and a curtain was pulled across in front of the bed, before Dick was gone from Wally's view.

A moment later the rest of the team rushed in, staring at the curtain, shocked.

"What happened?" Artemis demanded.

Wally stood stock-still- the color had drained from his face. He wasn't able to speak, couldn't breathe enough to get the words out...

"Wallace- what has occured?" Kaldur demanded, voice more urgent than assertive. The worry was evident in the Atlanteian's silver grey eyes.

The only thing that escaped the speedster's mouth was a choked sounding sob, before he was gone, running towards Robin's room, praying her wouldn't find what he thought he would, praying this was all some twisted dream...

The team found him on his hands and knees before a pool of blood in his best friend's room, crying his eyes out.

Everyone simply stared at the scene before them. it took them a moment to register what it was.

Megann broke down sobbing at the sight, and Conner recoiled, afraid. Humans bled when they were injured... Kaldur stared at the sight numbly, still unable to comprehend what it truly meant.

Artemis stepped forward, laying a hand on Wally's shaking shoulders. The ginger looked back at her, seeing the compassion filling her almond eyes and needing to let it out.

"His wrists..." he choked out between torrents of tears, and Artemis's eyes widened with shock at the realization, withdrawing her hand from his shoulder for a minute...

"He slit his wrists. There was... blood... so much... blood... Jesus Christ, why!?" Wally screamed the last part, before hanging his head and struggling to breathe through his tears, chest heaving

Artemis joined him a moment later, not crying as profusely. But not even she could deny the tears that silently cascaded down her face, realizing what'd happened in this room.

They'd lost Zatanna. And now they were going to lose Robin, too.


End file.
